Reflections on Graduating Medical School

Hey everyone, long time no see. I have been off the radar for way too long now. Like I have said before, sometimes you make plans, but life has a different idea. Well, I had planned to have content ready for the week I was in Mexico and for graduation week. Lo and behold, I was actually sick for the 2 whole weeks before going to Mexico. In fact, I was sick WHILE in Mexico, and as a result came back home a little worse. To put it in context, for a minute there I was worried I had bronchitis or something. With this in mind, you can see WHY I have been off the radar. But, do not worry I am going to try and get back on track ASAP. Today I am going to share with you a reflection on graduating medical school.

The Feels

The week of graduation was one filled with overwhelming emotions. From discovering that I had won an award, to finally being able to say I AM a doctor, it was a rollercoaster of emotions. Like I mentioned in my post on being HAPPY and SUCCEEDING in Medical School I spent my medical school years doing my best but without devoting every second of my life to medicine. I was not at the top of my class not did I get all the Honors on my rotations as I wanted. But in the end my dedication, passion and devotion to Obstetrics and Gynecology rewarded my with an excellence award. This means that out of all the people who took ObGyn rotations I had the best grades overall. Mind you, I did NOT honor my ObGyn third year clerkship. So receiving this award was a very humbling and exciting feeling.

All things considered, it was an amazing week! And let me tell you it started out awful. It started as the Murphy’s Law week with my dress for the graduation gala not fitting and thus making it really hard to fix what needed to be altered. In addition to that, finding out our belonging are not being delivered until early July even though we sent it with MORE THAN ENOUGH time to arrive the week we got to El Paso. This was just the tip of the iceberg. In the end everything worked out. We did almost everything we wanted to and we made it to El Paso safe and sound.

Realization

It is not everyday that you transition from being a baby duckling doctor to being a legit, actual doctor with a sudden great increase in patient responsibility. In addition to that the fact that you need to think about so much more than JUST taking care of patients. You have an image to maintain, you represent your program, your hospital and so much more, so it is no longer JUST about YOU. The realization that I have been dreaming about this moment for the past 8 years, that I am about to begin a chapter that will train me to do what I have been dreaming of all this time. It is an amazing yet scary feeling. Definitely hard to put into words but so amazing to have been able to achieve it nonetheless.

The other realization is that the level of responsibility automatically increases when you graduate medical school and I am now very responsible for my patients. And this point is very important, because residents are STILL in their own learning process. Realizing that your responsibility is primarily to your patients will help you take every step of the process very seriously.

Saying “I MADE IT!”

If you are a medical student or in a similar professional school, you know the road seems everlasting. Being at the end of the road and ready to begin the next chapter is incredibly fulfilling. To put it in perspective, you have been working for x amount of years, accumulating debt, and wanting to complete this degree you have been working for. When you finally do, when you can say you did it, it feels incredible! Just that sense of accomplishment, of realization, is enough to make you reflect on everything you have done to get to this moment.

sorry for the blurry photo it’s an iphone photo in bad light and from a bit far!

In closing this post, I just want to say to those who are still on their journey, DO NOT give up. It will get better, and it WILL be ok. No matter what hardships you find along the way, everyone has their own journey. In reality, everything happens for a reason. Sometimes, especially if things pile up, we have a hard time coming to terms with this aspect of life. But trust me, it will be ok. There are lessons in everything we go through and usually after the fact, we come to learn what this is.